Harry's Get Well Cards
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Harry is feeling lonely and depressed at the beginning of the Christmas holidays. Are his friends going to abandon him? Completely AU, sick!Harry


**Harry's Get Well Cards**

Harry yawned as he slowly walked back from the station in Hogsmeade. His friends had just left for their Christmas holidays, leaving Harry alone at Hogwarts only with a handful of teachers. Sitting on the edge of the lake, Harry threw a few stones into the water, deep in thoughts.

'_Why can't Dumbledore let me go with the Weasleys? I'd make sure not to endanger them. But Dumbledore doesn't care if I'm happy. For him, I'm only a medium, which he needs to get rid of his arch enemy._' He let out a long sigh. '_If only Sirius was still alive. I wonder how Remus is doing. Maybe I should send him an owl for Christmas, but right now I'm too tired_.'

Harry had spent all the night musing over his lonely holidays, over his fate of getting rid of Voldemort, and over Hermione, who was going out with Ron. He lazily leaned against a tree, not noticing that his eyes used the opportunity to droop, causing him to fall asleep in the blink of an eye.

When he woke up by a strange sound nearby, he saw that it was already dark and it had begun to rain. '_Why can't it at least snow, and what was that sound?_' he mused, curiously looking around, before he heard the sound again. Only now, he became aware of the fact that it had been his own sneeze. He was shivering violently from the cold December air and the rain and noticed that he had obviously managed to catch a cold. '_Oh brilliant_,' he thought, knowing that Madam Pomfrey had already left the castle to spend Christmas at home, so that he wouldn't even be able to get a Pepper Up potion.

Harry hurried back into the castle, sensing how cold the empty halls were. He headed to the Gryffindor common room, which felt cold, dark, and empty without the laughter and bickering of his Housemates. Sighing, Harry dragged himself to his dormitory, resisting the urge to lie down in his warm bed, and changed his wet clothes, pulling several layers of shirts and jumpers under his robes. Knowing that he would be in trouble if he skipped dinner, especially as he had already missed lunch, he slowly descended to the Great Hall.

'_Why was I so stupid to fall asleep on the grounds?_' he mused, feeling absolutely horrible. His head and throat were sore, and he felt hot and cold at the same time. When he entered the Great Hall, he was on the verge of leaving immediately. Except for the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress only Professors Snape and Trelawney were present.

Harry groaned inwardly and dragged himself to the empty seat, noticing horrified that he sat between Dumbledore and Trelawney.

"Good that you're here, Harry," Dumbledore addressed him gently with a merry twinkle in his eyes.

"Now we're five, but in the morning, only two of us will be here," Trelawney commented, before she glanced around in confusion, causing Harry to moan inwardly. '_Now she'll probably predict that I'm going to die tonight_,' he thought in exasperation.

All of a sudden, dinner appeared, and Harry busied himself trying to force a few bites of his dinner down his burning throat, groaning inwardly at the pain he felt with each swallow. He was so occupied that he didn't perceive the concerned looks the two Heads of House threw him, nor did he notice that two small phials were passed from Snape's robe pocket to McGonagall's.

By the time the main dish was finished, Harry felt his head spin and wanted nothing more than to lie down in his bed with a whole pile of blankets draped over him. He slowly turned his head to the Headmaster.

"Professor, may I please be excused?" he asked politely, aware of the fact that his voice was getting hoarse.

"Are you all right, Harry? You hardly ate anything," Dumbledore queried, giving the boy a piercing look.

"I'm fine, Professor. I'm just not very hungry," Harry lied, glad when the Headmaster allowed him to leave.

He dragged himself back to the Gryffindor common room and lay down on the floor right in front of the fireplace, not even bothering to cast a Lumos spell.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

When Harry woke up, he saw all of his Housemates standing around him, pointing to him with their fingers.

"Look, he was too stupid to stay alone for ten days," Ginny said to Neville, who nodded affirmatively, before both of them turned away from him, kissing each other.

"What did you expect? He's Harry bloody Potter, who always needs everyone's attention," Katie commented, causing the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team to agree.

"You're right; he was only good at catching the Snitch, and I bet my sister will even beat him at that," Ron's voice penetrated his ear.

Only Hermione tried to come to his defence. "Ronald," she scolded her friend, "now just shut up. Harry was a great friend, and I didn't want him to die from lung infection."

"It's his own fault," Ron replied coolly, pulling Hermione in an embrace.

'_Am I dead?_' Harry mused. '_No, I don't think so. Everything still hurts_.' He tried to sit up but felt himself being pushed down on a relatively soft bed beneath him. '_Where am I?_' he wondered and lazily opened his eyes.

"Hello Harry," he heard his Head of House's voice, and he found himself in a comfortable bed in a small room, which was held in light blue colours. Professor McGonagall was sitting on the edge of his bed watching him in concern. "How are you feeling, Harry?" she asked gently.

"Alive," Harry replied in confusion. "Where am I? Is this a dream?" he croaked, noticing that it hurt to move his head.

McGonagall chuckled. "You're in my guestroom, Harry. You're very ill and have been unconscious for a whole week due to the lung infection you caught on the first day of the holidays. Professor Snape and I have been taking care of you here."

Before Harry could even process what the teacher told him, she added, "It's good that you're awake. Now I can check on you myself without calling Professor Snape every few hours." She lit the tip of her wand and peered in Harry's mouth and ears, before she pried a thermometer under his tongue, quickly removing it as it flared red. "You're still very ill, Harry, but you're finally getting better. If you're lucky, you might be able to attend the welcoming feast in a few days' time." She gently helped Harry to sit up and made him swallow two potions, before she lowered him back into a lying position, smoothly tucked him in, and carefully adjusted a cold cloth on his forehead.

"You missed Christmas, sweetie, and you have a pile of presents and get well cards to open," Minerva informed him, pointing to a few dozen cards that decorated his night table and the nearby bookshelf.

"Get well cards?" Harry queried in surprise.

"I talked to Mrs. Weasley on Christmas morning and told her about your condition, and apparently word of your illness has spread over to all of your Housemates. Everyone has sent you a card. Ms. Granger even offered to return to Hogwarts and help me to look after you, but since I could take turns with Professor Snape and you were unconscious anyway, I told her there was no need to come back."

McGonagall looked at her wristwatch and sighed. "Harry, I'm going to leave you alone for an hour. We'll have a staff meeting, which is going to take place in my living room, so that I won't be far away, and I'll leave the door ajar. Just shout if you need me. All right, Harry?"

"Of course," Harry replied, throwing the professor a grateful smile, before he engrossed himself in the reading of the get well cards from his House mates, feeling very comforted and happy at their kind words. A few minutes later, he drifted back to sleep with a small smile playing on his lips.

**The End**

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I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them.  
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_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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